2018 One Read Winner: About “Killers of the Flower Moon” and David Grann

About the Book

“Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI” is a compelling work of true crime that will captivate fiction and nonfiction readers alike.

When white settlers pushed the Osage Nation into Oklahoma in the 1800s, the tribe retained the mineral rights to the infertile land they were forced to call home. The subsequent discovery of oil made the Osage rich, and the U.S. government appointed white “guardians” to help manage their wealth. In the early 1920s, a number of Osage Indians suddenly died under mysterious circumstances or were outright murdered. This campaign of terror spurred young J. Edgar Hoover and his newly established FBI to investigate, ultimately uncovering shocking depths of greed, bigotry and corruption. David Grann’s dogged research and spellbinding storytelling combine to create a riveting true-crime narrative.

About the Author

Known for his compelling and irresistible stories, Grann has been called “The man Hollywood can’t stop reading,” with four of his New Yorker articles adapted for the screen, including Trial By Fire, The Old Man & The Gun, which will star Robert Redford, Casey Affleck and Sissy Spacek, and The White Darkness. Tracing Henry Worsley’s 2015 attempt to re-create his hero Ernest Shackleton’s infamous odyssey across Antarctica, The White Darkness is currently being developed into a full-length book by Grann. Following a highly publicized bidding war for the film rights to “Killers of the Flower Moon,” the picture is now in production with Martin Scorcese as director and starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

Before joining The New Yorker in 2003, Grann was a senior editor at The New Republic and the executive editor of The Hill. His work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, and The Washington Post.